ACUTE PAIN REDUCTION STRATEGIES USED BY WELL OLDER ADULTS

Thirty older-adults, without chronic-pain, were interviewed about the acute pain reduction strategies that they used at home and strategies that they might use if hospitalized. Verbatim transcripts from the aud iotapes were content analyzed. Successful pain reduction, strategies i ncluded taking a mild analgesic and positioning. If hospitalized; 16 ( 53.3%) would request analgesics; four (13.3%) would talk with a health care provider; five (16.7%) would continue their own pain reduction s trategies; four (13.3%) provided no pain reduction strategies. Results suggest that many older adults:possess pain reduction strategies that may be helpful to incorporate in their pain management when hospitali zed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.